It's that time again. Where I bore you senseless (not always that long a trip) with the numbers as VFTD attempts to track the vitality of big league tourney competition.
But before I get started mark your calendars because I have a prediction for you. This is one you will not want to remember but will hope to be able to throw back in my face at a future date. Conflicted? It gets better. Or worse, depending. Warning: Do NOT read this prediction if you suffer from depression, occasional thoughts of suicide, drug-induced paranoia or if you listen to emo music.
Prediction: Next season, 2010, MLP will be at greater risk than it is/was this year, and I'm not convinced that surviving 2010 will get us over the hump either.
This week over at the PSP Chicago registration is up to 187 with 77 teams paid. That is a solid improvement over last week and, I think, a positive sign. The league continues to work the phones hard trying to drum up vendor participation but it remains an uphill struggle.
On the WC front it would appear that an Orlando venue may be close to being a done deal. This is just speculation on my part but I do know a couple of things that most of you probably don't. (I wonder if I'll get an irate phone call later today.) Do not, in any case, buy your plane tickets just yet.
The May deadline came and went for registration and early payment for the USPL's West Coast Open. Registered teams is up to 59 with 16 paid (not including the pro teams.) That means only a few teams took advantage of the largest possible discounts on their entry fees but lesser discounts remain available and it's hard to quantify where the savings versus the very early payment balances out given that the event isn't scheduled until mid-July. There is still plenty of time to get signed up but it's hard not to look at this as something of a referendum on the viability of 7-man as a major league format going into the future. Next week's Monday Poll will be about the 7-man format.
The Millennium Series staged their second event of the season at Bitburg, Germany last weekend with a total of 116 teams participating compared to the 151 teams at Malaga. Final results for Malaga in the locked upper divisions will not be complete until the Paris event in July. In the open divisions the numbers were down in Germany by 32 teams; 80 D2 & M5 combined in Malaga with only 48 combined in Bitburg. Curiously, there are 27 registered teams in D1 but in both Malaga and Bitburg only 24 D1 teams played. Does that mean, like last year, there are 3 teams each event reffing instead of playing? And how are they chosen? Do they still pay a licensing fee to get a D1 spot so they can ref?
The next Grand Tour event in the Central Conference is scheduled for the end of June in Lviv and there are currently 32 teams registered. That's up 2 over last week.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Rule of the Game
Baca's Rule of the Game #17: 'Speedball' refers to any non-woods variant of paintball in which the participants imagine they are playing competitive paintball.
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Monday Poll & Paintball Stuff
This week's poll is on the upcoming World Games in Taiwan in July and the 16 team invitational paintball event that will serve as a demonstration sport. Rock the vote.
I botched last week's poll. It was written poorly. You see, the whole thing, being an experiment in a "positive" poll, wasn't intended to be positive at all. (Yeah, I was doing the sarcastic thing again.) Having a virtual monopoly means the MS doesn't have to be proactive or responsive to its customers (the league's communications are notoriously limited, self-serving and non-communicative) and, of course, there is no up-to-date rulebook. Locked divisions in the MS are just an excuse to charge teams an extra fee and how many made-for-TV paintball shows do we need? Or, why is this one gonna be any different than all the others? Anyway, let that be a lesson to you. This blogging biz is harder than it looks. (The new poll however is primo.)
Predictions for PSP Chicago. No, not those kind of predictions. After another weekend working the layout I predict a lot of teams are in for a big surprise. I also predict most of y'all will miss a lot (let me repeat–a lot) of opportunities on this layout. (Doesn't mean I like it any better than I did before either.) Finally I predict the refs will not like reffing this field and the snake will prove particularly annoying. (Guess the reason why and win a coveted VFTD e-no prize.)
There are some new links under Paintball on the Web down on the sidebar. Despite all the regular talk about the major leagues, including the USPL, MS & Grand Tour, I didn't have links up for them. Or some of the other bigger leagues. I's gonna rectify that. Soon. Also, there is now a link for PBGuide.com which is a paintball site dedicated to collecting active and interesting paintball-related links. (Which was all news to me but it's pretty cool, right?) Anyway, next time you can't find what you're looking for try PBGuide.
Posting soon over at the Big Bullet will be this week's post at Baca's Blog. In keeping with this week's Monday Poll the post is about paintball at the World Games. Check it out. Post a comment. Go crazy.
I botched last week's poll. It was written poorly. You see, the whole thing, being an experiment in a "positive" poll, wasn't intended to be positive at all. (Yeah, I was doing the sarcastic thing again.) Having a virtual monopoly means the MS doesn't have to be proactive or responsive to its customers (the league's communications are notoriously limited, self-serving and non-communicative) and, of course, there is no up-to-date rulebook. Locked divisions in the MS are just an excuse to charge teams an extra fee and how many made-for-TV paintball shows do we need? Or, why is this one gonna be any different than all the others? Anyway, let that be a lesson to you. This blogging biz is harder than it looks. (The new poll however is primo.)
Predictions for PSP Chicago. No, not those kind of predictions. After another weekend working the layout I predict a lot of teams are in for a big surprise. I also predict most of y'all will miss a lot (let me repeat–a lot) of opportunities on this layout. (Doesn't mean I like it any better than I did before either.) Finally I predict the refs will not like reffing this field and the snake will prove particularly annoying. (Guess the reason why and win a coveted VFTD e-no prize.)
There are some new links under Paintball on the Web down on the sidebar. Despite all the regular talk about the major leagues, including the USPL, MS & Grand Tour, I didn't have links up for them. Or some of the other bigger leagues. I's gonna rectify that. Soon. Also, there is now a link for PBGuide.com which is a paintball site dedicated to collecting active and interesting paintball-related links. (Which was all news to me but it's pretty cool, right?) Anyway, next time you can't find what you're looking for try PBGuide.
Posting soon over at the Big Bullet will be this week's post at Baca's Blog. In keeping with this week's Monday Poll the post is about paintball at the World Games. Check it out. Post a comment. Go crazy.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Xball: Gunning & Running
Aight, Sunshine, it's that time again. (What time is that, you ask?) The time when I take all your hopes and dreams and dash them on the rocks of hard work and practice. Unlike Allen Iverson you need all you can get.
But before we get started I'm gonna tell you a story. (See, I can be nice, too.) Many moons ago I was a gym rat, working out 5 days a week, powerlifting and for the simple pleasure of it. One of the things the regulars always enjoyed was the response of most new guys coming in and being given a rudimentary workout. Usually, after a half hour or forty-five minutes they were exhausted and kind of proud of themselves for enduring such a brutal workout. It was with great satisfaction that we then got to tell them that for at least the first three months their workouts were designed to prepare them for real workouts.
There are two points to that story. One, chances are you ain't nearly as good as you think you are because you have a largely untrained conception of what "good" is. And, Two, learning the fundamentals is what prepares you to become a player, not what makes you a player.
Did you notice anything odd about the title of this post? That isn't a mistake. If you are not proficient at the gunning part of running & gunning you might as well be a soccer player. This week's How-To focuses on the basics of learning to Gun & Run.
Functionally you need to be able to run laterally (side to side) and upfield (end to end) in both directions. This means you also need to be able to run & shoot with either hand and also be proficient at switching hands while running.
The basis for all those elements is the shooting platform; how you hold your gun. The fundamental doesn't change just because you are moving (and your gun may swing through a wider range than normal.) Many of the how-to videos cover this (and generally do so with reasonable precision) so all I will say at this point is that the two keys are a fixed base and a dominant guide hand. A fixed base is a firmly planted tank approx. in the area where the collar bone meets the shoulder. And a dominant guide hand should be the hand on the grip frame (or thereabouts.) So it isn't enough to be able to pull a trigger with either hand.
The next step is beginning to develop accuracy while moving. (This is where gun & run comes into effect.) It does no good to be lightning quick if you can't hit what you are shooting at. There are a couple of tricks that should prove helpful. Slow and steady. Always make sure your paint is on target as you attempt to move faster and faster. As soon as you lose accuracy, slow down. Only go as fast as you can accurately shoot. The speed will come in time. You can also try the heel and toe technique. Short steps planting the heel first--but softly--and let the lead foot plant gently. It is standard combat shooter technique which may prove useful for some players as they gain running & gunning proficiency.
Running & Gunning can also be further broken down in OTB, in game movement and making a bunkering run.
Ponder that awhile, Sunshine, and next time we'll go over a few of the drills that will help you at least look like you know what you're doing.
But before we get started I'm gonna tell you a story. (See, I can be nice, too.) Many moons ago I was a gym rat, working out 5 days a week, powerlifting and for the simple pleasure of it. One of the things the regulars always enjoyed was the response of most new guys coming in and being given a rudimentary workout. Usually, after a half hour or forty-five minutes they were exhausted and kind of proud of themselves for enduring such a brutal workout. It was with great satisfaction that we then got to tell them that for at least the first three months their workouts were designed to prepare them for real workouts.
There are two points to that story. One, chances are you ain't nearly as good as you think you are because you have a largely untrained conception of what "good" is. And, Two, learning the fundamentals is what prepares you to become a player, not what makes you a player.
Did you notice anything odd about the title of this post? That isn't a mistake. If you are not proficient at the gunning part of running & gunning you might as well be a soccer player. This week's How-To focuses on the basics of learning to Gun & Run.
Functionally you need to be able to run laterally (side to side) and upfield (end to end) in both directions. This means you also need to be able to run & shoot with either hand and also be proficient at switching hands while running.
The basis for all those elements is the shooting platform; how you hold your gun. The fundamental doesn't change just because you are moving (and your gun may swing through a wider range than normal.) Many of the how-to videos cover this (and generally do so with reasonable precision) so all I will say at this point is that the two keys are a fixed base and a dominant guide hand. A fixed base is a firmly planted tank approx. in the area where the collar bone meets the shoulder. And a dominant guide hand should be the hand on the grip frame (or thereabouts.) So it isn't enough to be able to pull a trigger with either hand.
The next step is beginning to develop accuracy while moving. (This is where gun & run comes into effect.) It does no good to be lightning quick if you can't hit what you are shooting at. There are a couple of tricks that should prove helpful. Slow and steady. Always make sure your paint is on target as you attempt to move faster and faster. As soon as you lose accuracy, slow down. Only go as fast as you can accurately shoot. The speed will come in time. You can also try the heel and toe technique. Short steps planting the heel first--but softly--and let the lead foot plant gently. It is standard combat shooter technique which may prove useful for some players as they gain running & gunning proficiency.
Running & Gunning can also be further broken down in OTB, in game movement and making a bunkering run.
Ponder that awhile, Sunshine, and next time we'll go over a few of the drills that will help you at least look like you know what you're doing.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Mr. Curious
Mr. C has been outta the loop for awhile but apparently got sucked in recently by all the new Impulse hoopla and sent in this question.
Is the new Impulse Smart Parts' response to the Planet Eclipse Geo?
Is the new Impulse Smart Parts' response to the Planet Eclipse Geo?
A Classification Question
Seems Aftershock is looking into having a semi-pro team compete in Chicago. Which is swell--the more the merrier--but then I wondered if it was gonna be a one-off deal, sorta like Trauma playing MAO, and if so, what it might mean to the players participating. Obviously in the Trauma situation it wasn't a big deal as all or most of the players would have been ranked no lower than semi-pro anyway. But this Shock situation could be different so I took (another) look at this year's Classification rules.
There are no minimum roster appearances in effect in semi-pro. For example, appear on ONE pro roster this season and you are ranked pro. Appear more than once on any divisional roster and you are that rank automatically. But not in semi-pro so there is some room to maneuver. It would seem that the classification rule in effect is the one for playing above your current rank the one time you may do so without automatically changing ranks. Two divisions up and it's an automatic 100 point score. One division up and it's a minimum 50 plus your team score with a max of 100.
I bring this up (again) because players seldom pay much attention to this sort of thing. I have no idea if this is intended to perhaps go somewhere or if it's supposed to be a one-time fun thing for the local players and fans but whatever it is keep in mind there are classification consequences depending on the incoming rank of the chosen players.
There are no minimum roster appearances in effect in semi-pro. For example, appear on ONE pro roster this season and you are ranked pro. Appear more than once on any divisional roster and you are that rank automatically. But not in semi-pro so there is some room to maneuver. It would seem that the classification rule in effect is the one for playing above your current rank the one time you may do so without automatically changing ranks. Two divisions up and it's an automatic 100 point score. One division up and it's a minimum 50 plus your team score with a max of 100.
I bring this up (again) because players seldom pay much attention to this sort of thing. I have no idea if this is intended to perhaps go somewhere or if it's supposed to be a one-time fun thing for the local players and fans but whatever it is keep in mind there are classification consequences depending on the incoming rank of the chosen players.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
World Games & Paintball
The word is beginning to spread that competitive paintball will be a demonstration sport at this year's World Games in July. The games are being held this time around in Taiwan in conjunction with the APIT (Asian Paintball Invitational Tournament.) 16 teams--apparently all Asian--will represent competitive paintball and will run side-by-side with the APIT.
Info is hard to come by as I couldn't find any mention of demonstration sports or paintball on the World Games website--but you might have better luck or be more patient than I was. And I couldn't find anything on APIT other than some mentions about last year's event and bit of YouTube footage. VFTD's Malaysian correspondent only knows the Malaysian teams that will be participating in the games demo and APIT event. It all seems rather odd that so little information is available about what might be a significant step toward legitimizing competitive paintball within the sports world. (And, frankly, if you take a look at some of the "real" sports that are already part of the World Games you gotta wonder what paintball has being doing wrong.) Even odder in that DYE Asia is supposed to be heavily involved.
UPDATE: Couple of things I forgot. The Kaohsiung Paintball Association is supposed to be the organizer but far as Google can tell they don't have a website either. For the latest check out Villian Paintball--in the paintblog list on the sidebar.
UP UPDATED: Er, the Kaohsiung Paintball Association does (sorta) have a website at rocpaintball.org which looks mostly like a field site and all the links seem to go to their forum which Google will translate into English but still isn't very informative.
Info is hard to come by as I couldn't find any mention of demonstration sports or paintball on the World Games website--but you might have better luck or be more patient than I was. And I couldn't find anything on APIT other than some mentions about last year's event and bit of YouTube footage. VFTD's Malaysian correspondent only knows the Malaysian teams that will be participating in the games demo and APIT event. It all seems rather odd that so little information is available about what might be a significant step toward legitimizing competitive paintball within the sports world. (And, frankly, if you take a look at some of the "real" sports that are already part of the World Games you gotta wonder what paintball has being doing wrong.) Even odder in that DYE Asia is supposed to be heavily involved.
UPDATE: Couple of things I forgot. The Kaohsiung Paintball Association is supposed to be the organizer but far as Google can tell they don't have a website either. For the latest check out Villian Paintball--in the paintblog list on the sidebar.
UP UPDATED: Er, the Kaohsiung Paintball Association does (sorta) have a website at rocpaintball.org which looks mostly like a field site and all the links seem to go to their forum which Google will translate into English but still isn't very informative.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Major League Paintball Held Hostage: Weekly Update
Registration for the PSP's Chicago Open is up to 136 with about a month to go. That looks pretty good but realistically another 80 or so teams need to sign up and play. I also hear the league is working hard to encourage small PBIndustry types to fill up the vendor's village but I don't think they have a prayer of making that happen. For the small guy it simply isn't cost effective (or even cost neutral) to attend anything but WC. In looking over the registered teams it appears that 4 of the 8 registered in Semi-pro are there by mistake. And the ranks of D1 teams continues to swell. Not. Last year Chicago had 8 D1 teams. Despite efforts by the PSP to pack the division like a Tammany Hall boss it ain't working and the net result is this year's crop of D1 ranked former players.
Keep an eye on the numbers as both Phoenix and MAO looked a little thin until the final week so I expect Chicago will pull it together too.
Registration for the USPL's West Coast Open is at 51 (including the 16 pro teams.) FYI--I make a distinction for the pro teams because they are all pre-confirmed and pre-paid as joint owners of the league and consequently shouldn't be counted the same as every other team signing up to play. That puts registration at 35 teams 3 paid. The May discount is available for a few more days and it will interesting to see how many teams take advantage of it. June payment will also offer a discount but not nearly as much. The event is scheduled for mid-July.
Registration in the unlocked divisions for this week's Millennium Series Bitburg event really did swell--perhaps on the good news regarding the German paintball ban (it ain't happening after all)--to 23 teams in M5 and 22 teams in D2 which nearly doubled each division over last week. Those may not be the kind of numbers the MS was hoping for but in light of all the recent troubles it doesn't look too bad.
Registration for next month's Eastern Conference Grand Tour event in Lviv, Ukraine, is at 30 teams. The recent Warsaw event saw 40 teams participate. VFTD recently was offered another explanation (besides poor promotion) for the fall off in competing teams. It was suggested by our regular correspondent that currency exchange rates had also caused, in effect, a steep price increase and that could very easily be putting teams off. I think there was more to it but I must have dozed off.
Lastly, I have made noises before about expanding the coverage of the weekly update and y'all have responded like the lazy slackers you are. But I now have something a little more specific to suggest so maybe it will help motivate a slacker or three. I would like to add regional series in the U.S. like the CFOA and AXBL (and I'm open to their suggestions). I would also like to add series from around the world that draw teams from multiple countries or are currently the largest series of events in their region or country. But saying that there's no way I can go hunting for all the info myself so here's the deal. If you want your league in the weekly update you need to send me relevant info about what's happening and websites where peeps can follow-up on the goings on of the various leagues around the world. Btw, I'm not holding my breath but do have my fingers crossed.
Keep an eye on the numbers as both Phoenix and MAO looked a little thin until the final week so I expect Chicago will pull it together too.
Registration for the USPL's West Coast Open is at 51 (including the 16 pro teams.) FYI--I make a distinction for the pro teams because they are all pre-confirmed and pre-paid as joint owners of the league and consequently shouldn't be counted the same as every other team signing up to play. That puts registration at 35 teams 3 paid. The May discount is available for a few more days and it will interesting to see how many teams take advantage of it. June payment will also offer a discount but not nearly as much. The event is scheduled for mid-July.
Registration in the unlocked divisions for this week's Millennium Series Bitburg event really did swell--perhaps on the good news regarding the German paintball ban (it ain't happening after all)--to 23 teams in M5 and 22 teams in D2 which nearly doubled each division over last week. Those may not be the kind of numbers the MS was hoping for but in light of all the recent troubles it doesn't look too bad.
Registration for next month's Eastern Conference Grand Tour event in Lviv, Ukraine, is at 30 teams. The recent Warsaw event saw 40 teams participate. VFTD recently was offered another explanation (besides poor promotion) for the fall off in competing teams. It was suggested by our regular correspondent that currency exchange rates had also caused, in effect, a steep price increase and that could very easily be putting teams off. I think there was more to it but I must have dozed off.
Lastly, I have made noises before about expanding the coverage of the weekly update and y'all have responded like the lazy slackers you are. But I now have something a little more specific to suggest so maybe it will help motivate a slacker or three. I would like to add regional series in the U.S. like the CFOA and AXBL (and I'm open to their suggestions). I would also like to add series from around the world that draw teams from multiple countries or are currently the largest series of events in their region or country. But saying that there's no way I can go hunting for all the info myself so here's the deal. If you want your league in the weekly update you need to send me relevant info about what's happening and websites where peeps can follow-up on the goings on of the various leagues around the world. Btw, I'm not holding my breath but do have my fingers crossed.
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Monday Poll & Paintball Stuff
In a dominating performance the PSP website never gave the competition a chance and won going away with 61% of the vote. Congrats, PSP! You have the major league website that blows the most. Better luck next time to the also rans.
Played the Chicago layout some this past weekend and it's everything I expected. Unfortunately.
The new post over at Baca's Blog on the Big Bullet this week is called, 'The Accidental Collector.' Drop by and take a look.
Today's Monday Poll replaces the website poll with a more uplifting, upbeat poll on the Millennium Series. Today's poll question is, 'What is the best feature of the Millennium Series?' The poll will remain open until next Saturday at noon. And don't forget, the MS Bitburg event starts this coming Friday. The MS has decided to seed the CPL & SPL for Bitburg based on the two matches each team completed in Malaga. And it only took them until the week of the event to figure it out and make the announcement.
Played the Chicago layout some this past weekend and it's everything I expected. Unfortunately.
The new post over at Baca's Blog on the Big Bullet this week is called, 'The Accidental Collector.' Drop by and take a look.
Today's Monday Poll replaces the website poll with a more uplifting, upbeat poll on the Millennium Series. Today's poll question is, 'What is the best feature of the Millennium Series?' The poll will remain open until next Saturday at noon. And don't forget, the MS Bitburg event starts this coming Friday. The MS has decided to seed the CPL & SPL for Bitburg based on the two matches each team completed in Malaga. And it only took them until the week of the event to figure it out and make the announcement.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The Mech Warrior
The following post appeared originally in Baca's Blog over at the Big Bullet.
No, this piece isn't about some new manga fad or a fantasy combat game posted here by accident. It's also not about some new scenario game or the latest spec ops gear intended for the mil-sim crowd. It's about tournament paintball, sort of. But maybe it has applications that are bigger than just tourney ball. So you can either surf over to the next page or site or kill a couple of minutes and keep reading. What could it hurt? (Don't answer, that was a rhetorical question.)
Some of the big players in industry and tournament promotion have become concerned that the base for future tourney players has been shrinking and high ROF guns have received the lion's share of the blame. One of the "answers," though not aimed at tourney play, is Billy Ball which revolves around using a gun with very limited ROF capability. I'm not altogether convinced that high ROF is hurting paintball but I am convinced a failure to properly control high ROF is a significant danger to paintball.
Lately, the tourney world has seen a growing, if still relatively modest, interest in pump events. The PSP, which promotes a national series and hosts the World Cup, has resorted to incremental limits on ROF at their competitions in an effort to make introductory play less intimidating. The league is also hopeful that their changes will trickle down to regional and local events and encourage regular recreational players to be satisfied with something less than the ultimate performance of the modern electronic markers. Will it work? If ROF is the core issue maybe it will. Some have suggested bringing tourney play back to the woods as an alternative solution and that's just what SPPL and the new UWL (Ultimate Woodsball League) are doing. The UWL has gone so far as to offer a separate division of play based on limiting the number of electronic markers used. So how about a mechanical marker only tournament? If tourneys can go back into the woods and be played by pumps again, why not? If the biggest, most competitive league in the world is restricting the ROF of the almighty electros, why not?
This is hardly an original idea. I read a comment somewhere a week or two ago talking about using mechanical markers and I liked the idea but dismissed it almost immediately. Players buy and shoot what they want and even with the recent resurgence of pump and the Old Skool interest in some of the classic markers the mech guns aren't going to supplant the electros in the foreseeable future. And organizing a whole event around the hope that enough tourney-oriented players who want to play with mech guns would support it sounds like pie in the sky to me. But there is one way it might work in the current environment. As a separate division of play. A few years ago the PSP was talked into adding the Masters Division of play at World Cup. (Their only error was insisting it be xball instead of 5-man but even so it has continued every year since its introduction.) What if the PSP offered divisions of play with the only restriction being the use of mechanical markers? Say an Open division and an Amateur division. If available in conjunction with a massive event like World Cup if nobody wants to play mech warrior there's no harm done. Even the current PSP rulebook addresses the use of mechanical markers so that wouldn't be an issue. And who knows, it might get a new group and an old group back into the tourney game.
Could a move to encourage mechanical marker play in competition then spread to other parts of paintball?
No, this piece isn't about some new manga fad or a fantasy combat game posted here by accident. It's also not about some new scenario game or the latest spec ops gear intended for the mil-sim crowd. It's about tournament paintball, sort of. But maybe it has applications that are bigger than just tourney ball. So you can either surf over to the next page or site or kill a couple of minutes and keep reading. What could it hurt? (Don't answer, that was a rhetorical question.)
Some of the big players in industry and tournament promotion have become concerned that the base for future tourney players has been shrinking and high ROF guns have received the lion's share of the blame. One of the "answers," though not aimed at tourney play, is Billy Ball which revolves around using a gun with very limited ROF capability. I'm not altogether convinced that high ROF is hurting paintball but I am convinced a failure to properly control high ROF is a significant danger to paintball.
Lately, the tourney world has seen a growing, if still relatively modest, interest in pump events. The PSP, which promotes a national series and hosts the World Cup, has resorted to incremental limits on ROF at their competitions in an effort to make introductory play less intimidating. The league is also hopeful that their changes will trickle down to regional and local events and encourage regular recreational players to be satisfied with something less than the ultimate performance of the modern electronic markers. Will it work? If ROF is the core issue maybe it will. Some have suggested bringing tourney play back to the woods as an alternative solution and that's just what SPPL and the new UWL (Ultimate Woodsball League) are doing. The UWL has gone so far as to offer a separate division of play based on limiting the number of electronic markers used. So how about a mechanical marker only tournament? If tourneys can go back into the woods and be played by pumps again, why not? If the biggest, most competitive league in the world is restricting the ROF of the almighty electros, why not?
This is hardly an original idea. I read a comment somewhere a week or two ago talking about using mechanical markers and I liked the idea but dismissed it almost immediately. Players buy and shoot what they want and even with the recent resurgence of pump and the Old Skool interest in some of the classic markers the mech guns aren't going to supplant the electros in the foreseeable future. And organizing a whole event around the hope that enough tourney-oriented players who want to play with mech guns would support it sounds like pie in the sky to me. But there is one way it might work in the current environment. As a separate division of play. A few years ago the PSP was talked into adding the Masters Division of play at World Cup. (Their only error was insisting it be xball instead of 5-man but even so it has continued every year since its introduction.) What if the PSP offered divisions of play with the only restriction being the use of mechanical markers? Say an Open division and an Amateur division. If available in conjunction with a massive event like World Cup if nobody wants to play mech warrior there's no harm done. Even the current PSP rulebook addresses the use of mechanical markers so that wouldn't be an issue. And who knows, it might get a new group and an old group back into the tourney game.
Could a move to encourage mechanical marker play in competition then spread to other parts of paintball?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Paintball Stuff
Get ready for a long-ish edition of stuff coming at ya on a Friday. First up, I'll be re-posting the 'The Mech Warrior' (from Baca's Blog over at the Big Bullet) over the weekend for those lazy slackers too lazy to click over. Why, because it has competitive paintball relevance unlike most Baca's Blog posts.
Video editions of MAO matches are now up at the PSP, soon to be VFTD's official major league website that blows the most. Even if you saw them live I would recommend you watch them again, this time focusing on learning something along the way. It's not only entertainment a potentially valuable tool as well.
I'm enjoying the website challenge poll so much I'm gonna start doing one every week on Mondays. Next week's topic will be the Millennium.
Speaking of the Millennium there's a couple fresh news items up on their website from boss Barry Fuggle and the website representing the combined might of the pro-paintball forces in Germany. Both are encouraging participation in the Bitburg event to show the politicians and media what paintball is really all about. And it seems to be working as registrations in the open divisions jumped this week from near single digits to numbers that could, with a few more days of registration available, match Malaga. Hopefully that's all that will match Malaga and no one will ask for too many explanations as make-up matches are made-up along with the Bitburg schedule. Otherwise the professional presentation of elite competitive paintball might not be overly impressive. Just saying.
Oh, and it's nothing to do with anything really but what's with the odd spelling of Bitburg in both posted items? Kind regards
The PSP is also trying out a couple new divisions in Chicago and try as I might, I couldn't help but wonder how they fit in the context of the UCP, the Universal Classification Program. The mere mention of the UCP should be more than enough to make the regulars here cringe but if you are out of that loop and want to suffer along with everybody else look here, here and here. (Don't blame me, you were warned.) (And besides, there's lots more where that came from.)
Anyway, I can see the "new" D4 being a variation on D3 Intro so that's not a huge deal although, it seems to me, there was a reason it was originally called D3 Intro. As for D2 Race2-2 it's really mostly a kind of catch-all to scoop up a few more teams, isn't it? One D1 player allowed but for general classification purposes it counts as D3? Which is fine by me but like I said, raises a few UCP questions in my mind.
Was the original division D3 Intro specifically intended to NOT fall below the "national level" threshold and infringe on local and regional events? This is potentially a reflection of a larger issue with the UCP; a tension between it's core function and what the PSP would like it to do--help build the PSP. There isn't a necessary conflict there, only some UCP functions at cross purposes. And, why, if a team plays D3 once without a classification "penalty" (cus that's how a lot of them look at it) play D4 at all if it's mostly a try out division? Same price, no prizes. If it might end up a permanent division it will definitely put the PSP national events at odds with local and regional competition. See previously mentioned UCP conflict.
Lastly, Friday is for recognizing new enlistees to the DPA. However, this is the third week in a row without any. Your failure to enlist is thwarting VFTD's plan for World Paintball Domination. Don't ask how it's supposed to work; it's really complicated. Since when did you care? Just join. It's the new agg.
Video editions of MAO matches are now up at the PSP, soon to be VFTD's official major league website that blows the most. Even if you saw them live I would recommend you watch them again, this time focusing on learning something along the way. It's not only entertainment a potentially valuable tool as well.
I'm enjoying the website challenge poll so much I'm gonna start doing one every week on Mondays. Next week's topic will be the Millennium.
Speaking of the Millennium there's a couple fresh news items up on their website from boss Barry Fuggle and the website representing the combined might of the pro-paintball forces in Germany. Both are encouraging participation in the Bitburg event to show the politicians and media what paintball is really all about. And it seems to be working as registrations in the open divisions jumped this week from near single digits to numbers that could, with a few more days of registration available, match Malaga. Hopefully that's all that will match Malaga and no one will ask for too many explanations as make-up matches are made-up along with the Bitburg schedule. Otherwise the professional presentation of elite competitive paintball might not be overly impressive. Just saying.
Oh, and it's nothing to do with anything really but what's with the odd spelling of Bitburg in both posted items? Kind regards
The PSP is also trying out a couple new divisions in Chicago and try as I might, I couldn't help but wonder how they fit in the context of the UCP, the Universal Classification Program. The mere mention of the UCP should be more than enough to make the regulars here cringe but if you are out of that loop and want to suffer along with everybody else look here, here and here. (Don't blame me, you were warned.) (And besides, there's lots more where that came from.)
Anyway, I can see the "new" D4 being a variation on D3 Intro so that's not a huge deal although, it seems to me, there was a reason it was originally called D3 Intro. As for D2 Race2-2 it's really mostly a kind of catch-all to scoop up a few more teams, isn't it? One D1 player allowed but for general classification purposes it counts as D3? Which is fine by me but like I said, raises a few UCP questions in my mind.
Was the original division D3 Intro specifically intended to NOT fall below the "national level" threshold and infringe on local and regional events? This is potentially a reflection of a larger issue with the UCP; a tension between it's core function and what the PSP would like it to do--help build the PSP. There isn't a necessary conflict there, only some UCP functions at cross purposes. And, why, if a team plays D3 once without a classification "penalty" (cus that's how a lot of them look at it) play D4 at all if it's mostly a try out division? Same price, no prizes. If it might end up a permanent division it will definitely put the PSP national events at odds with local and regional competition. See previously mentioned UCP conflict.
Lastly, Friday is for recognizing new enlistees to the DPA. However, this is the third week in a row without any. Your failure to enlist is thwarting VFTD's plan for World Paintball Domination. Don't ask how it's supposed to work; it's really complicated. Since when did you care? Just join. It's the new agg.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
MS Bitburg layout
This post will be limited to discussing some basic shooting options OTB (in keeping with recent How-To xball posts) because anything else would surpass my boredom threshold and your attention span. But before we get started there is also a disclaimer and a recommendation.Disclaimer: actual position of bunkers extremely important and your results may vary--if the field is poorly set-up. And while I claim to almost always be right there is a statistically negligible margin of error involved in any claim.
Recommendation: check out Warpig's virtual fieldwalk as it can be helpful in visualizing the angles and lanes. If you haven't seen it before you've been missing out.
The Bitburg layout has fairly limited breakout options so with a little creative guns up play it should be possible to both keep the opponent guessing while giving yourself a little extra laning help. Looking at the field diagram there are 6 shooting positions. Beginning with 3 & 4, the home shooters, each side has two predominant shooting lanes. Snake-side they are inside and outside the line of pins. D-side they are inside and outside the MT. The snake-side outside lane is a pick'em lane in that a runner can be going either corner or snake and the distance between them forces the shooter to pick a primary target. The same is true of the D-side inside lane in that a runner moving thru that lane is either going corner or D1. The most difficult of the 4 "home" lanes is the inside snake-side lane where the shooter must be fast and accurate. For anyone who can get it consistently they can deny an OTB move into the pins and potentially catch sloppy runners going either corner or snake. (I say sloppy because running well defined lanes ought to force the shooter into the pick'em dilemma.)
Positions 2, 5 & 6 are dead zone spots. A dead zone is an area seemingly out in the open but largely "invisible" (or only exposed from very limited points). Playing a dead zone isn't a free pass however as players are in motion across the whole field. Most of the time it's a matter maintaining a lane but still knowing when to move. (It's also important to sometimes have an assist from a teammate to make a dead zone lane a safer option.) For example, position 5 laning crossfield (snake-side) ought to be matched with a D-side home shooter laning the inside the MT lane. It's important to keep in mind dead zone shooting isn't a stationary option. And a very useful skill is the ability to shoot one lane and be aware of incoming paint from another angle.
Position 1 simply shows one option for using position 2 as it leads naturally into 1 while allowing the shooter to maintain a dominant lane.
The only caveat is to precisely check what the M blocks. It may in fact take some options away and allow for others but in any case needs to be examined with respect to the dead zone positions.
Anyone who plays this layout is encouraged to comment.
Burning Question
This edition of Burning Question is a two-parter. If you are so far outta the loop it leaves you confizzled look here.
What is a roller? (Hint: within the paintball industry.)
What could it mean if a number of paint manufacturers all bought enough new rollers to service all their paint-making machines? (My apologies for the technical lingo.)
What is a roller? (Hint: within the paintball industry.)
What could it mean if a number of paint manufacturers all bought enough new rollers to service all their paint-making machines? (My apologies for the technical lingo.)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Major League Paintball Held Hostage: Weekly Update
There will be a poll--as you can see. But as I'm writing this I've no idea how it will look or format, only that it can be done. However, there is the serious business (yeah, right) of our regular weekly update first.
UPDATE: It appears on the stinking sidebar is what it does. Oh, well.
The PSP's Chicago Open registration is now (almost) open. The notices have been sent and the website updated but at this writing APPA doesn't have a Chicago Open option available yet. Won't be long, I'm sure. This event will be a big hurdle as the expectations are that much higher for a Chicago event. Last year's event topped 230.
This just in: The PSP's new website still sucks.
Over at the USPL there are 43 teams signed up (including the 16 pro teams) for the end of July West Coast Open. I'm assuming--a danger to you and me, I know, but what can I say? I'm a thrill seeker. I'm assuming the very early registrations are because of the offered discount for payments made in May. (12 days and counting so we'll soon see.) Either way it's decent numbers and if it encourages more teams to sign up could result in a very positive event for the league.
Across the pond the Millennium is gearing up for their Bitburg event in the wake of the Malaga mess. For whatever reason (fears of the German paintball ban) (repercussions from Malaga) open registration for Bitburg in D2 & M5 are lagging with 13 teams currently in each division. A smaller than expected (hoped for) (wanted) turnout in the open divisions will perhaps make scheduling easier as there is still no official word from the MS on how the Bitburg event will be scheduled in the absence of Malaga results in the locked divisions. Or how the make-up matches will be made up other than on Friday--and/or Thursday if you can make it.
In Warsaw last weekend there was a Grand Tour Central Conference event. With only 39 teams competing the event was held on 2 fields. Results are posted in the Masters and Amateur division but no Pro results are given. This appears to be a disappointing turnout. In other disappointing news the Southern Conference has been merged with the Central Conference when scheduled events in Turkey were dropped for "technical reasons." Given past turnouts for the EPL and Centurio I'm left wondering if the economic situation is to blame although others, closer at hand, point out the limited to poor promotion of events by the operators. Regardless, the Grand Tour is a little less grand with two conferences but hopefully consolidation will help future event turnouts.
Now to the good stuff. Rating the major league websites. I debated (with myself in an, at times, very heated discussion) the merits of offering opinions that might sway the vote and I finally decided I didn't care. Even so I am going to refrain and only suggest the various criteria you might use in considering your vote. Keep in mind these sites are the internet faces of world class competitive paintball. So appearance is important. How informative is the site? How easy is it to navigate to the information you want? How much cool stuff do they have, or, how effectively do they make competitive paintball look awesome? Just a few of the things to keep in mind as you consider--
Which major league website blows the most?
PSP
USPL
MS
Grand Tour
Sure, it sounds kinda negative but VFTD believes a good beatdown builds character and besides, there's always room for improvement. It also seems like a lot more fun than which major league website is the best. Boring.
Now get to clicking. Exercise your right to vote. I swear it will be as meaningful and relevant as any determination of public opinion overseen by the FEC or a U.N. Commission headed by Jimmy Carter. The poll will close Saturday at noon.
UPDATE: It appears on the stinking sidebar is what it does. Oh, well.
The PSP's Chicago Open registration is now (almost) open. The notices have been sent and the website updated but at this writing APPA doesn't have a Chicago Open option available yet. Won't be long, I'm sure. This event will be a big hurdle as the expectations are that much higher for a Chicago event. Last year's event topped 230.
This just in: The PSP's new website still sucks.
Over at the USPL there are 43 teams signed up (including the 16 pro teams) for the end of July West Coast Open. I'm assuming--a danger to you and me, I know, but what can I say? I'm a thrill seeker. I'm assuming the very early registrations are because of the offered discount for payments made in May. (12 days and counting so we'll soon see.) Either way it's decent numbers and if it encourages more teams to sign up could result in a very positive event for the league.
Across the pond the Millennium is gearing up for their Bitburg event in the wake of the Malaga mess. For whatever reason (fears of the German paintball ban) (repercussions from Malaga) open registration for Bitburg in D2 & M5 are lagging with 13 teams currently in each division. A smaller than expected (hoped for) (wanted) turnout in the open divisions will perhaps make scheduling easier as there is still no official word from the MS on how the Bitburg event will be scheduled in the absence of Malaga results in the locked divisions. Or how the make-up matches will be made up other than on Friday--and/or Thursday if you can make it.
In Warsaw last weekend there was a Grand Tour Central Conference event. With only 39 teams competing the event was held on 2 fields. Results are posted in the Masters and Amateur division but no Pro results are given. This appears to be a disappointing turnout. In other disappointing news the Southern Conference has been merged with the Central Conference when scheduled events in Turkey were dropped for "technical reasons." Given past turnouts for the EPL and Centurio I'm left wondering if the economic situation is to blame although others, closer at hand, point out the limited to poor promotion of events by the operators. Regardless, the Grand Tour is a little less grand with two conferences but hopefully consolidation will help future event turnouts.
Now to the good stuff. Rating the major league websites. I debated (with myself in an, at times, very heated discussion) the merits of offering opinions that might sway the vote and I finally decided I didn't care. Even so I am going to refrain and only suggest the various criteria you might use in considering your vote. Keep in mind these sites are the internet faces of world class competitive paintball. So appearance is important. How informative is the site? How easy is it to navigate to the information you want? How much cool stuff do they have, or, how effectively do they make competitive paintball look awesome? Just a few of the things to keep in mind as you consider--
Which major league website blows the most?
PSP
USPL
MS
Grand Tour
Sure, it sounds kinda negative but VFTD believes a good beatdown builds character and besides, there's always room for improvement. It also seems like a lot more fun than which major league website is the best. Boring.
Now get to clicking. Exercise your right to vote. I swear it will be as meaningful and relevant as any determination of public opinion overseen by the FEC or a U.N. Commission headed by Jimmy Carter. The poll will close Saturday at noon.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Rumor Redux & Paintball Stuff
Another Monday and that means it's time to plug today's post over at the Big Bullet. (Although, as I write this today's post has yet to be posted--but it will be. It's called 'The Mech Warrior' and if you want to know what it's about you'll just have to go see. No shame in my game.)
On the subject of blatant teases there's the current pretend-it's-not-really-a-promotion promotion for the new Impulse from SP. It's a promo piece for Eurodealers that was accidentally released. Sure. And I'm Mary Poppins. A restricted piece for promotion to Eurodealers that doesn't show the new marker or offer any details at all. Nada. Zip. Nothing. How very informative. Seriously, does anyone believe this kind of thing anymore? Apparently so. And no denying that it works. It costs almost nothing and it gets all the gearheads and gun whores happily discussing the possibilities and waiting anxiously for the next tid-bit of non-info while the real product just happens to have an introductory date within the next three weeks.
Regarding the post, 'The Ultimate Paintball Conspiracy,' I have received some queries wondering what sort of backlash might be forthcoming as a result of the post. There won't be any, in part, because I didn't name any names thereby forcing peeps into the position of having to deny something and because I've actually done the new paintball crowd a favor. The talk has existed for years so I do not find it coincidental that vague talk about a new paintball has leaked quietly in a number of places recently. Part of the process is to put the idea out there and gauge public response. My post, regardless of the slant, advances that process.
That does not mean I expect to see a new paintball any time soon. Or ever, necessarily. As I stated in the post I think it unlikely and I'm certainly not advocating it. The idea of a new paintball however isn't the same thing as my opinion of the idea. If my opinions had any bearing on reality there would, for example, have been no TARP, bailouts or the insanity of printing money round the clock. Alas, my opinion is irrelevant.
Tomorrow, along with the usual MLP Weekly Update (which is frequently not very uplifting) I've decided to have some fun and do a Battle of ML Websites--and, who knows, there might even be a poll allowing you lazy slackers an opportunity to not vote. Isn't America great?
On the subject of blatant teases there's the current pretend-it's-not-really-a-promotion promotion for the new Impulse from SP. It's a promo piece for Eurodealers that was accidentally released. Sure. And I'm Mary Poppins. A restricted piece for promotion to Eurodealers that doesn't show the new marker or offer any details at all. Nada. Zip. Nothing. How very informative. Seriously, does anyone believe this kind of thing anymore? Apparently so. And no denying that it works. It costs almost nothing and it gets all the gearheads and gun whores happily discussing the possibilities and waiting anxiously for the next tid-bit of non-info while the real product just happens to have an introductory date within the next three weeks.
Regarding the post, 'The Ultimate Paintball Conspiracy,' I have received some queries wondering what sort of backlash might be forthcoming as a result of the post. There won't be any, in part, because I didn't name any names thereby forcing peeps into the position of having to deny something and because I've actually done the new paintball crowd a favor. The talk has existed for years so I do not find it coincidental that vague talk about a new paintball has leaked quietly in a number of places recently. Part of the process is to put the idea out there and gauge public response. My post, regardless of the slant, advances that process.
That does not mean I expect to see a new paintball any time soon. Or ever, necessarily. As I stated in the post I think it unlikely and I'm certainly not advocating it. The idea of a new paintball however isn't the same thing as my opinion of the idea. If my opinions had any bearing on reality there would, for example, have been no TARP, bailouts or the insanity of printing money round the clock. Alas, my opinion is irrelevant.
Tomorrow, along with the usual MLP Weekly Update (which is frequently not very uplifting) I've decided to have some fun and do a Battle of ML Websites--and, who knows, there might even be a poll allowing you lazy slackers an opportunity to not vote. Isn't America great?
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